The sad march towards tribal fiefdoms continued Thursday, as Google announced that it will only allow Chrome for Windows users to download extensions hosted by Google's own Chrome Web Store starting in January.

Google is going to stop allowing non-sanctioned extensions to work on its Chrome for Windows browser. It's for your safety, you understand.

The sad march towards tribal fiefdoms continued Thursday, as Google announced that it will only allow Chrome for Windows users to download extensions hosted by Google's own Chrome Web Store starting in January.

Google says the decision to transform Chrome into a gated community stems from security concerns, in an echo of the official reason that Microsoft moved to the Windows Store model to distribute modern UI apps. Google engineering director Erik Kay points the finger at the damage caused by rogue extensions in a blog post detailing the lock-down.

"Bad actors have abused this mechanism, bypassing the prompt to silently install malicious extensions that override browser settings and alter the user experience in undesired ways, such as replacing the New Tab Page without approval. In fact, this is a leading cause of complaints from our Windows users."

The policy shift will no doubt make it easier for Google to police the sanctity of said extensions. Google's been on a bit of a security tear recently; last week, the company announced plans to step up Chrome's malware-busting chops.

But, it's also worth noting, developers who want to include their Chrome Web Store have to pay a $5 registration fee--and if your Chrome Web Store-hosted app or extension generates income, Google will take a 5 percent cut of the revenue.

"And I think that we've really invested a lot into the open standards behind all that. And I've personally been quite saddened at the industry's behavior around all these things... I'd like to see more open standards, more people getting behind things, that just work, and more companies involved in those ecosystems."